Presented by First Five Years Fund: ABC News will broadcast from White House all day June 24 -- Letterman apologizes to Palin -- Dennis Ross moves from State to NSC -- Matt Vogel engaged

BULLETIN – AP/Tehran: “Iran's powerful Guardian Council is ready to recount specific ballot boxes in last week's disputed presidential elections. … Iran state radio reported Tuesday that clashes in the Iranian capital the previous day left seven people dead during an ‘unauthorized gathering’ at a mass rally over alleged election fraud — the first official confirmation of deaths linked to the wave of protests and street battles.”

Good Tuesday morning. Chicago Sun-Times cover is President Obama: “WHAT HE WANTS, WHAT DOCS WANT.”

SCOOP — POLITICO’S Kenneth P. Vogel: “[T]he Boston Red Sox come to Washington next week for a three-game interleague series … More than a dozen lawmakers — including seven from Massachusetts and its neighboring states (aka Red Sox Nation) — have scheduled fundraisers at Nationals Park when the Sox come to town to play the cellar-dwelling Washington Nationals. For between $1,500 and $5,000, lobbyists and political action committee managers can take in a game and a beer with a powerful lawmaker who controls the fate of legislation they’re paid to sway. Donors who give $5,000 to Rep. John Larson (D-Conn.) get two tickets to the game, plus the chance to watch batting practice from the exclusive President’s Club seating area beforehand, according to his invitation. Rep. Jim Langevin (D-R.I.) says donors will enjoy a pregame ‘dinner reception at the President’s Club, then enjoy the game in the best seats in the house — behind home plate!’ Langevin — a big Sox fan, according to his spokeswoman, Joy Fox — quickly sold out 50 tickets for between $1,500 and $2,500 a pop. Not a bad markup, when you consider the face value was $200 each.”

OBAMA REASSURES WALL STREET — President Obama kicks off his rollout of proposed realignment of financial regulators by giving interviews today to Bloomberg TV’s Al Hunt and CNBC’s John Harwood, both for airing when the markets close at 4 p.m.

TREASURY SECRETARY TIMOTHY GEITHNER previewed tomorrow’s announcement for TIME Managing Editor Richard Stengel at the Time Warner Economic Summit in New York: “There's a bunch of things that would be nice to do if we had time and infinite capital, but we're trying to focus on the practical issues that were at the core of this problem, … which are basic gaps in protecting against systemic risk, crisis prevention, basic gaps in our capacity to manage crises, basic gaps in consumer investor protection.”

OUT TODAY — L.A. Times’ Peter Nicholas: “A report due to be released today by a Republican senator contends the Obama administration's stimulus program is fraught with waste and incompetence — evidenced by a turtle crossing in northern Florida that will cost more than $3 million and a snafu in which thousands of Social Security checks went out to people who had died. Modeled after a release from the White House describing 100 stimulus projects that were in the works, the report put out by Sen. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma looks at the same number of projects but reaches starkly different conclusions. The title is ‘A Second Opinion on the Stimulus.’ … Coburn's staff spent about a month interviewing federal officials, reviewing data and compiling news clippings in a continuing examination of the $787-billion stimulus package.”

OBAMA-TV: If you liked the hard-hitting NBC series known around the White House as “A Day in the Life of Brian Williams,” you’ll LOVE what the alphabet network has up its blazer. A week from tomorrow (Wednesday, June 24), ABC News moves all its broadcasts INTO the White House to amplify the health care message. From the release: “ABC News’ Charles Gibson and Diane Sawyer to Moderate a Primetime Conversation with President Barack Obama about the Future of the Nation’s Healthcare System — Special Edition of ‘Primetime’ to Air from the White House Wednesday, June 24th at 10pm ET – ‘Questions for the President: Prescription for America’ to Continue on “Nightline” at 11:35pm ET – ‘Good Morning America’ and ‘World News’ to Originate From the White House on Wednesday – ‘GMA’ to Feature Exclusive Interview with President Obama …

“During the discussion from the East Room of the White House, President Obama will answer questions from an audience made up of Americans selected by ABC News who have divergent opinions in this historic debate. … Wednesday morning’s ‘Good Morning America’ will originate from the South Lawn of the White House … Wednesday’s program will also feature portions of Robin Roberts’ exclusive interview with first lady Michelle Obama. Charles Gibson will anchor ‘World News’ from the Blue Room of the White House on Wednesday.”

TOP TALKER — LETTERMAN APOLOGIZES TO PALIN — POLITICO staff: “Following a weeklong scuffle between late-night comedian David Letterman and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, the ‘Late Show’ host offered a full-throated apology of sorts on his program Monday night. Specifically referencing a joke about Palin’s daughter being ‘knocked up’ by New York Yankees slugger Alex Rodriguez during the governor’s visit to New York City last week, Letterman said he was unaware that 14-year old Willow Palin was even on the trip. Letterman said he had ‘no idea’ that Willow was with Palin when the governor and husband Todd Palin attended a Yankees game with former Mayor Rudy Giuliani but still said, ‘it was kind of a coarse joke’ and added, ‘the joke really, in and of itself, can't be defended.’ ‘I told a bad joke,’ the host said. ‘I told a joke that was beyond flawed, and my intent is completely meaningless compared to the perception. And since it was a joke I told, I feel that I need to do the right thing here and apologize for having told that joke. … So I would like to apologize, especially to the two daughters involved, Bristol and Willow, and also to the governor and her family and everybody else who was outraged by the joke. I'm sorry about it and I'll try to do better in the future.’”

CAMPAIGNER IN CHIEF — “President Barack Obama” e-mailed hundreds of thousands of Virginia supporters yesterday urging them to support Creigh Deeds, the Virginia state senator who last week became the commonwealth's Democratic nominee for governor. "I know a thing or two about tough primaries, and I know a thing or two about running tough races in Virginia," Obama writes. “I know [his bipartisan, pragmatic] approach works because I've spent some time in your great Commonwealth… That's the approach my campaign took last November to put Virginia in the Democratic column for the first time since 1964. … I look forward to working with Creigh to keep the Commonwealth strong.” The e-mail was sent to the Virginia mailing lists of the Democratic National Committee and Organizing for America, the Obama grass-roots organization.

PALACE INTRIGUE — TIME.com, “Dennis Ross, Iran Adviser, Moves to White House,” by Massimo Calabresi and Michael Scherer: “Dennis Ross, the Obama Administration's special adviser on Iran, will be leaving his post at the State Department to become a senior adviser at the National Security Council (NSC) with an expanded portfolio … News of Ross's departure from the State Department was first reported by the Israeli newspaper Haaretz. … [S]enior officials in several branches of the Administration … knock down speculation that it is a demotion … He was Bill Clinton's top envoy for Middle Eastern peace … He also served as head of policy-planning at the State Department under George H. W. Bus … The NSC has been looking to establish a ‘strategic planning cell’ that would oversee long-term Administration initiatives around the world.”

PLAYBOOK FACTS OF LIFE: With proximity comes power. Ross could soon be running Middle East policy, as he will have the president’s ear on a daily basis.

** Change the first five years and you change everything. Give at-risk children the best chance for better outcomes. Learn more about the First Five Years Fund. **

TOP STORY — POLITICO’s Carrie Budoff Brown: “A health care reform bill proposed by Sen. Ted Kennedy’s committee would cost more than $1 trillion over 10 years while still leaving millions of people uninsured, according to a preliminary estimate released Monday by the Congressional Budget Office. The analysis projected that about 37 million people would still go without insurance once the bill is fully implemented, falling far short of President Barack Obama's promise to extend coverage to all Americans. The office cautioned that its analysis was incomplete because the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee was still drafting portions of the bill. And Senate Democratic staff was quick to point out that one of those outstanding issues – a mandate on employers to offer insurance or pay a government fee – would boost coverage and prevent the erosion in employer provided insurance that the analysis projected. The White House also weighed in late Monday, issuing a statement from Press Secretary Robert Gibbs distancing the administration from the Kennedy proposal. ‘This is not the Administration’s bill, and it's not even the final Senate Committee bill,’ Gibbs said."

—N.Y. Times’ Robert Pear and Jackie Calmes, on A1: “That finding came as a surprise. Robert D. Reischauer, an economist who headed the budget office when Congress tackled the health care issue in the Clinton administration, said that if so many people remained uninsured, it might not be feasible to cut special federal payments to hospitals that serve many low-income people. Mr. Obama said Saturday that the government could save $106 billion over 10 years by cutting such hospital payments as more people gained coverage. Senator Orrin G. Hatch of Utah, a senior Republican on both committees drafting health legislation, said he found the office’s numbers stunning. He calculated that the Kennedy bill would cost taxpayers $62,500 per uninsured person over the 10 years.”

OBAMA ACCOUNTABILITY — “Stimulus serves up Obama pork,” POLITICO’s Eamon Javers: “It became a sort of poster child for fiscal responsibility — a clean-coal power plant in Illinois that was one of then-Sen. Barack Obama’s pet projects. Democrats insisted they were so serious about keeping pork out of the stimulus bill that it was President Obama himself who blocked the FutureGen project from the massive spending package. … The Department of Energy on Friday announced that the FutureGen project is on track after all, committing federal stimulus money to advance the project to its next stage. One reason: It was the only shovel-ready project that fits the requirements of the stimulus bill. Administration officials and the project’s other big backer, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), insist that’s not an earmark at all, as promised — because the stimulus bill doesn’t specifically name the FutureGen project as a recipient of the money.”

CABLE CANDY — “Sotomayor defends all-women's group,” by POLITICO’s Kenneth P. Vogel and Josh Gerstein: “Sonia Sotomayor on Monday defended her membership in an elite women’s only group, arguing that it’s not discriminatory because men might be able to join the Belizean Grove, too, if they applied. ‘Men are involved in its activities-they participate in trips, host events, and speak at functions –but to the best of my knowledge, a man has never asked to be considered for membership,’ the Supreme Court nominee wrote in a Monday letter responding to an array of concerns raised by Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee … Sotomayor wrote that it was her ‘understanding that all interested individuals are duly considered by the membership committee.’ … Founded nearly 10 years ago as the female answer to the Bohemian Grove — a secretive all-male club whose members have included former U.S. presidents and top business leaders — the Belizean Grove has about 125 members, including Army generals, Wall Street executives and former ambassadors. … Sotomayor attended last year’s retreat in Lima, Peru, and gave a presentation on the challenges the judiciary faces in maintaining its independence from the legislative and executive branches.”

MAYORS STEAMED BY WHITE HOUSE NO-SHOW, by POLITICO’s Carol E. Lee: “America’s big-city mayors are steaming over what they view as ‘a very dangerous precedent’ set by the Obama administration in its decision to shun the U.S. Conference of Mayors annual meeting in Providence, R.I., this week. In its attempt to honor the picket line of a local firefighters union involved in a labor dispute with the city, the administration has inadvertently angered some of its staunchest supporters in urban America, who argue that by declining to send an official contingent to the three-day mayors’ conference, the administration is caving in to labor and snubbing local governments at a time of economic strife. … [Vice President] Biden was one of many high-profile administration officials slated to attend, including senior adviser Valerie Jarrett, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson, HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan, Education Secretary Arne Duncan, Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke and Gil Kerlikowske, head of the Office of National Drug Control Policy. … ‘Unfortunately, because of circumstances surrounding the conference, administration officials will not be participating in this year’s meeting,’ White House press secretary Robert Gibbs announced the week before the conference began. ‘While this administration is taking no position on the circumstances of the dispute itself, we have always respected picket lines, and administration officials will not cross this one.’”

IN HEARING TRANSCRIPTS PRIED LOOSE BY THE ACLU THROUGH FOIA LAWSUIT, KSM SAID HE MADE UP STORIES AFTER “TORTURE” — L.A. Times A1, by Julian E. Barnes and Greg Miller: “Self-proclaimed Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed told U.S. military officials that he had lied to the CIA after being abused, according to documents made public Monday. The claim is likely to intensify the debate over whether harsh interrogation techniques generated accurate information. … ‘I make up stories,’ Mohammed said, describing in broken English an interrogation probably administered by the CIA concerning the whereabouts of Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. ‘Where is he? I don't know. Then, he torture me,’ Mohammed said of his interrogator. ‘Then I said, “Yes, he is in this area.”’ Mohammed also appeared to say that he had fingered people he did not know as being Al Qaeda members in order to avoid abusive treatment. Although there is no way to corroborate his statements, Mohammed is one of the militants whom the CIA repeatedly subjected to the simulated-drowning technique known as waterboarding.”

THE FIRST LADY — WashPost Style front, 150 “Top Jazz Students Play Big Number: 1600 Penn.,” by Matt Schudel: “First lady Michelle Obama told the group that jazz was always in the air when she was growing up in Chicago. Her grandfather put speakers in every room of his house, turned up the stereo and listened to music all day long. … ‘Today's event exemplifies what I think the White House, the people's house, should be about,’ Obama said. The event took place in conjunction with the Duke Ellington Jazz Festival, Washington's largest music celebration, which concluded last night with a concert at the Kennedy Center. The students, who were chosen by their teachers, participate in programs sponsored by the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz, which paid for some of them to fly to Washington. … The entire Marsalis family -- father Ellis and sons Branford, Wynton, Delfeayo and Jason – participated … In one workshop, the students paraded across the stage of the East Room, improvising variations on the blues under the gaze of the portraits of George and Martha Washington.”

KBH: “I AM RUNNING FOR GOVERNOR” — POLITICO’s Glenn Thrush has a revealing Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison fundraising e-mail (complete with KAY FOR GOVERNOR logo, via the Dallas-Fort Worth NBC affiliate: “Dear Friend, Our campaign is off to a great start! I am overwhelmed by the enthusiastic support from all across the state and we are excited for the next phase of the campaign to begin. … I am running for governor because Texas must prepare for the future. I am running because I believe it is conservative to demand results and hold government accountable — with integrity and responsibility. "

ENGAGED: Matt Vogel, White House associate director of communications for economic policy, proposed to Julie Sobel this weekend in NYC at the Alice in Wonderland sculpture in Central Park. Julie is finishing up a graduate degree at NYU. They met in Marty Meehan’s office. (h/t Jen Psaki)

RETIRED U.S. ARMY GEN. WESLEY CLARK RAMPS UP HIS BATTLE FOR THE ETHANOL INDUSTRY — Clark is co-chairman of Growth Energy, “America’s Ethanol Producers”: “Since its founding in November 2008, Growth Energy has [taken] on food and livestock producers to fight against the ‘food versus fuel debate,’ formally requesting that EPA approve ethanol blends up to 15 percent, being a proactive voice for sound science in the indirect land use change debate, enlisting the help of some high profile individuals, including … former Office of Management and Budget Director and U.S. Rep. Jim Nussle (R-Iowa), and Growth Energy CEO Tom Buis (former National Farmers Union president) to spread its message.”

SPORTS BLINK — “Favre finally speaks out: Says he won't return unless arm is healthy” – Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: “Former Green Bay Packers quarterback Brett Favre broke his silence Monday evening and revealed three key points in regards to his future and his past: 1. He is considering only the Minnesota Vikings for a return in 2009 because he knows the offense so well; 2. His return hinges entirely on the health of his arm; and 3. His legacy in Green Bay should be defined by the 16 years he played there and not for his desire to play for one of the Packers' greatest rivals. Favre flew to New York on Monday to be the guest for the debut of ‘Joe Buck Live’ on HBO and confirmed to the Fox sportscaster that he wanted to play for Vikings. ‘It makes perfect sense because it's an offense that I've ran for 16 years,’ Favre told Buck. ‘I could teach the offense. It was tough going to New York last . . . year because I was two weeks late. It was a totally new offense for me. But it was like learning a foreign language.’ Minnesota, by contrast, offers a good defense, solid offensive line and Adrian Peterson at running back.”

DESSERT — “Docu exposes disturbing truth about U.S. food supply,” Hollywood Reporter: “In 1906, Upton Sinclair published his muckraking novel ‘The Jungle,’ which exposed corruption, unsanitary conditions and horrifying labor practices in the U.S. meatpacking business. The book caused a sensation that brought about a huge public outcry and considerable reform. More than a century later, ‘Food, Inc.,’ a documentary from director-producer Robert Kenner and investigative journalist Eric Schlosser (‘Fast Food Nation’), might be ‘The Jungle’ for the 21st century. Things, it seems, have gotten worse in our food supply. No question, watching this film is a tough go. Horror films cause less seat-squirming. The challenge faced by Magnolia Pictures is how to bring in the unconverted, meaning those who pooh-pooh the notion that what they eat could possibly be unsafe. Making the film available across several platforms should deliver not only greater returns but a better-educated public that can vote for greater food safety by the way they shop for food.

“Several films, including ‘Food Fight’ and ‘Fast Food Nation,’ have explored many of these themes. But none engenders the sense of urgency — and anger — that "Food, Inc." does. The main villain is agribusiness, a multicorporation behemoth that controls virtually everything you eat. The film, like Sinclair's novel, is an unapologetic exercise in advocacy journalism. However, lest anyone accuse the filmmakers of unfairness, representatives of the corporations that control our food supply were offered time to explain their approach to food safety. Everyone proved camera shy. Worse, the corporations pressured farmers not to give interviews or allow cameras inside food factories. Conditions are that bad. But one chicken farmer did cooperate. And hidden cameras got inside a ‘factory farm.’ … Cattle are fed corn rather than grass because it's cheaper. This has produced new strains of E. coli virus that have stricken thousands and killed hundreds. The processing of animals — an often cruel process for animals and humans alike — admits far too many contaminants into the meat supply. Government policy favors subsidies for the ‘wrong calories’ in our diet. This has led to epidemics in obesity and diabetes. Because of these policies, the cost of many foods is actually down — but at the hidden cost of increased medical expenses. Don't flatter yourself if you don't eat fast food: The ‘system’ reaches into everything you eat. …The film ends by asking people to shop wisely, to support farmers' markets and food produced by organic or sustainable farming methods. “

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About The Author

Mike Allen is the chief White House correspondent for POLITICO. He comes to us from Time magazine where he was their White House correspondent. Prior to that, Allen spent six years at The Washington Post, where he covered President Bush's first term, Capitol Hill, campaign finance, and the Bush, Gore and Bradley campaigns of 2000. Before turning to national politics, he covered schools and local governments in rural counties outside Fredericksburg, Va., for The Free Lance-Star, then wrote about Doug Wilder, Oliver North, Chuck Robb and the Bobbitts for the Richmond Times-Dispatch, where he nurtured police sources on overnight ride-alongs through housing projects. Allen also covered Mayor Giuliani, the Connecticut statehouse and the wacky rich of Greenwich for The New York Times. Before moving to The Times, he did stints in the Richmond and Alexandria bureaus of The Washington Post. Allen grew up in Orange County, Calif., and has a B.A. from Washington and Lee University, where he majored in politics and journalism.